Jan. 01--NEW ORLEANS -- With the eyes of college football transfixed on the Rose Bowl, where Florida State and Oregon duked it out in the first playoff game, Ohio State and Alabama prepared for this colossal Big Ten vs. SEC showdown.
On the eve of the Sugar Bowl, coaches Urban Meyer and Nick Saban functioned as if no other game mattered. There would be plenty of time -- 11 days, to be exact -- for the winner to worry about the national title game.
"This is the only game that matters," Saban said. "Since the Ole Miss game (that ended Alabama's regular season), we've sort of been in a playoff of our own kind. So everything is about this game."
A Saban mantra: Be where your feet are.
In other words, don't think ahead.
"Once we get an outcome of this game," Saban said, "we'll focus on what comes next."
Meyer said much the same, though he acknowledged the unusual nature of the circumstances. NFL teams are accustomed to having to win and then worry about the next opponent. But that had never been the case in college until this season.
"I think that caused a lot of coaches to have, whether it be internal conversations within their program or just reflection among themselves," Meyer said. "I remember thinking: How would this work? Now that we're here, there's no conversation whatsoever about the next one. It's all hands on deck to get this one done."
tgreenstein@tribpub.com
Twitter @TeddyGreenstein
